An Investigation of Special Education Teachers' Perceptions of the Effectiveness of a Systematic 7-Step Virtual Worlds Teacher Training Workshop for Increasing Social Skills

<p>This study describes how a systematic 7-Step Virtual Worlds Teacher Training Workshop promoting inquiry, experiential learning, and sociocultural theory guided the enculturation of 18 special education teachers into three-dimensional virtual worlds. The main purpose was to enable these teachers to make informed decisions about the usability of virtual worlds for students with social skills challenges, such as students with autism. Mixed-methods data analysis and triangulation were based on the analysis of seven instruments. Six of the seven steps of the intervention received high ratings indicating its viability for teachers' professional development opportunities</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Learning and Instruction

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Nussli, Natalie Christina

Contributors dc:contributor

• Mathew Mitchell
• Kevin Oh
• Peter Williamson

• immersive
• professional development
• Second Life
• special education
• teacher education
• virtual worlds
• Educational Methods
• Special Education and Teaching
• Teacher Education and Professional Development

Repository record dc:identifier

https://repository.usfca.edu/diss/113

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.usfca.edu:diss-1107